in the course of discharging his official duties.

(c) Payment. The Postmaster General has the usual right of a drawee to examine money orders presented for payment by banks through the Federal Reserve System and to refuse payment of money orders and shall have a reasonable time after presentation to make such examination. Provisional credit shall be given to the Federal Reserve Bank when it furnishes the money orders for payment by the Postmaster General. Money orders shall be deemed to be paid only after examination has been fully completed subject to the right of the Postmaster General to make reclamation as provided for in paragraph (e) of this section.

(d) Endorsements. The presenting bank and the endorser of a money order presented for payment are deemed to guarantee to the Postmaster General that all prior endorsements are genuine, whether or not an express guarantee to that effect has been placed on the money order. When an endorsement has been made by a person other than the payee personally, the presenting bank and the endorser are deemed to guarantee to the Postmaster General, in addition to other warranties, that the person who so endorsed had unqualified capacity and authority to endorse the money order on behalf of the payee.

(e) Reclamation. The Postmaster General shall have the right to demand refund from the presenting bank of the amount of a paid money order if, after payment, the money order is found to have been stolen, or to bear a forged or unauthorized endorsement, or to contain any material defect or alteration which was not discovered upon examination. Such right includes, but is not limited to, the right to make reclamation of the amount by which a genuine money order bearing a proper and an authorized endorsement has been raised. Such right shall be exercised within a reasonable time after the Postmaster General discovers that the money order has been stolen, or bears a forged or unauthorized endorsement, or is otherwise defective. If refund is not made by the presenting bank within 60 days after demand, the Postmaster General shall take such ac

The sale of documentary internal revenue stamps at post offices was discontinued at the close of business December 31, 1967. Persons desiring to purchase, exchange, or redeem the documentary stamps shall be referred to the nearest District Collector of Internal Revenue. [34 F.R. 9388, June 14, 1969]

§ 172.2 Migratory-bird hunting stamps.

(a) Where sold. Migratory-bird hunting stamps are sold at all first- and second-class post offices, and at certain designated third- and fourth-class offices where there is a demand for them. A current migratory-bird poster shall be displayed in the lobby.

(b) Price. Migratory-bird hunting stamps cost $3 each.

(c) Instructions on administration of the law. Postal employees must not instruct purchasers of migratory-bird hunting stamps on matters relating to the administration of the law. Refer them to the Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. 20240, or to the local game warden.

(d) Redemption from public. Stamps shall not be redeemed from the public except unsold stamps returned, within 30 days after close of season, from persons regularly engaged in retailing hunting or fishing equipment or from persons authorized to sell State or county hunting or fishing licenses. Stamps validated by signature or stamps that appear to have been removed from a hunting li

cense or identification card shall not be accepted.

(e) Accounting for stamps. (1) Receipt to evidence payment shall not be issued if no stamps are available.

(2) Money from sales shall be treated as postal funds.

(3) Refunds shall be made from postal funds, and redeemed stock shall be treated as nonsalable.

[26 F.R. 11601, Dec. 6, 1961, as amended at 30 F.R. 8622, July 8, 1965. Redesignated at 31 F.R. 15350, Dec. 8, 1966]

§ 172.3 United States savings stamps.

(a) Availability. United States savings stamps may be purchased at any post office where there is a demand for them.

Postmasters sell savings stamps to business houses, schools, institutions, or other organizations that desire to purchase them for resale. Postmasters will furnish savings stamps for schools without prepayment, on a consignment or a fixed-credit basis, to selected volunteer workers who shall be established as Treasury savings stamp agents. These agents will be qualified by State directors of the United States Savings Bonds Division of the Treasury Department. tailed information and the name and address of State directors may be obtain from postmasters.

De

(b) Denominations. Savings stamps are furnished in sheets in denominations of 10, 25, and 50 cents, and $1 and $5. The 25-cent stamps are also available bound in books. "Gift books" of ten 25cent savings stamps sell for $2.50; and "gift books" of twenty 25-cent stamps for $5. Stamps in these books are not detached and sold separately, but they must be detached and affixed in an album before they may be redeemed at a post office.

(c) Savings-stamp albums. Savings stamps will not be redeemed until stuck in an album of the appropriate denomination. Savings-stamp albums for each denomination are furnished free by postmasters to schools, individuals, and nonprofit organizations. Postmasters will not furnish business concerns with savings-stamp albums in any quantity. The 10-cent albums may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. The albums sell for 5 cents

per single album or at a special quantity price of $1.50 for 100 albums.

(d) Payment for stamps by purchaser. If payment is made by check, delivery of stamps may be delayed until check has cleared. Postal employees shall dispose of funds received in payment of stamps as postal funds.

(e) Redemption from public. (1) Payment to bearer. Savings stamps are transferable, and are payable to bearer at any post office if affixed to albums or on cards designed for the purpose. Postal savings stamps formerly sold shall also be redeemed if mounted in an album or on cards. Savings stamps will be redeemed for cash if presented by banks and other institutions that have accepted them in payment for United States savings bonds. Payment shall be made out of postal funds.

(2) Cancellation of redeemed stamps. Postal employees shall enter the value of savings stamps in each album on the back cover of the album in the space provided, or near the top if no specific space, and place a clear impression of the post office dating stamp nearby. They shall cancel redeemed stamps promptly after acceptance. The stamps shall not be defaced or mutilated.

(3) Disposition of redeemed stamps. Postal employees shall submit redeemed savings stamps to main office with Form 1412, "Daily Cash Report", where used.

(f) Mutilated stamps. (1) The postmaster will accept at face value any savings stamp that has been torn, burned, or badly mutilated, when one or more fragments can be identified as constituting clearly more than one half of the same stamp. If the fragment or fragments are not so identifiable, the owner should send them (with the entire album, if the stamp had been stuck in an album before it was mutilated) to the Treasurer of the United States, Washington, D.C. 20220.

(2) If stamps have adhered to each other so that they cannot be separated and their value determined (which can usually be done by soaking the stamps in warm water), the owner should forward them to the Treasurer of the United States.

[26 F.R. 11601, Dec. 6, 1961, as amended at 32 F.R. 3096, Feb. 21, 1967; 34 F.R. 9388, June 14, 1969. Redesignated at 30 F.R. 8622, July 8, 1965; further redesignated at 31 F.R. 15350, Dec. 8, 1966]

(b) Application for bonds. "Application for U.S. Savings Bonds", Form 920, is supplied by the postmaster. The purchaser must state on the form, by denomination, the number of bonds applied for, the total amount of the purchase, and the name and address to be inscribed on the face of the bond. Form 920 may also be used in applying for bonds by mail to a Federal Reserve bank or to the Treasury Department.

(c) Acceptance of funds. Funds shall be accepted the same as for money orders. (See § 171.1(b) (3) of this chapter.) If the postal employee does not want to accept a check, he shall advise the patron that a check will be accepted by the Treasury Department or a Federal Reserve bank in the purchase of bonds by mail. If a check is accepted and it fails to clear, the purchaser must either make the check good or return the bond. If neither the money nor the bond can be recovered, the post office shall notify the postal data center. No money may be accepted for bonds unless they are available for immediate delivery. Funds received shall be treated as postal funds.

(d) Issuance of bonds-(1) Authority to issue. Bonds may be issued at post offices in the names of natural persons in their own right only. Persons desiring to purchase them in other forms of registration authorized by Treasury Department Circular 530 may obtain them from

Federal Reserve Banks and Branches and from the Treasury Department, Washington, D.C., 20220.

(2) Accepting applications. The postal employee shall check Form 920, “Application for United States Savings Bonds", to see that inscription requested is in a form authorized by the latest edition of Treasury Department Circular 530 (circular may be obtained from the regional controller); write serial number of issued bond on Form 920; initial; and file alphabetically.

(3) Filling out bonds. The postal employee shall:

(i) Issue bonds in the names of individuals only, as follows:

(a) One person: "John A. Jones." (b) Two persons-coownership form: "John A. Jones or Mrs. Ellen S. Jones".

(c) Two persons-beneficiary form: "John A. Jones, payable on death to Miss Mary L. Jones". Payable on death may be abbreviated as p.o.d.

(ii) Use a typewriter if available and fill out the bond and stub in one operation.

(iii) Enter the full names on the bond and stub. Men's names may be preceded by any applicable title. Women's names must be preceded by Mrs. or Miss. A married woman's own given name must be used, not that of her husband.

(iv) Enter the full address of the owner on the bond. The address of the coowner or beneficiary is not necessary.

(v) Enter the month and year in the upper right corner of both the bond and the stub. Stamp the date of issue with the post office dating stamp in the circles provided on the bond and its stub.

(vi) Be sure that all entries are legible and exactly the same on the bond and its stub.

(vii) Detach stub from bond. Deliver bond to purchaser and retain stub for submission by postmaster with his accounting period bond report.

(4) Errors on bonds. (i) If an error is discovered on a bond after it is issued, it should be returned to the postmaster for correction. If returned during the accounting period of issue, and if the error was made by the postmaster, he shall spoil the bond and stub, write the name of the office on them, and issue a new bond in its stead. He shall correct his records if necessary.

(ii) If an error is discovered after the accounting period of issue, or if the error was not the fault of the postmaster, the postmaster shall prepare a receipt for the bond in triplicate; give a copy to the owner; keep a copy; and send the original with the bond to the postal data center for reissue. The reissued bond will be mailed direct to the owner.

(5) Errors on stubs. If an error is on the stub only and the bond is correct, or if an inscription needs explaining (as when a feminine owner's given name is one generally accepted as masculine), an explanation shall be made on the stub. The postmaster or a designated supervisory official must initial the notation If the address or date is omitted from a stub, the postmaster must find out from the purchaser whether the bond is complete and, if the bond is complete, insert the missing data on the stub. If the bond is not complete, the address or date must be filled in on the bond and stub. The addition shall not be initialed.

(e) Undeliverable bonds. Bonds issued and mailed by other agents, which

are

undeliverable by mail, shall be handled in the following manner:

(1) Bond shall be forwarded to the addressee if change of address is on file. If no change of address is on file or if addressee is deceased, bonds shall be returned to issuing agent without further action.

(2) Bonds that cannot be delivered or returned to issuing agent and unclaimed bonds found loose in the mail shall be held for 60 days. After 60 days, they shall be sent to the Treasury Department, Division of Loans and Currency, 536 South Clark Street, Chicago, Ill., 60605.

(f) Examination of stock of bonds. Clerks who issue bonds shall check each bond and stub to see that the denomination and serial number agree. If the stubs are attached to the wrong bonds, they must be reassembled so that the two parts of each assembly agree. The postmaster shall hold bonds that cannot be reassembled, report the discrepancy to the postal data center, and await instructions.

(g) Certification for payment—(1) What to certify. Postmasters shall not cash savings bonds but will certify them for payment if sufficient identification is furnished and if the bonds are to be

forwarded by the owner to a Federal Reserve bank or to the Treasurer of the United States for payment. The certification may be made on the bond itself or on a detached request for payment, Treasury Department Form TD 1522. Bonds that are to be presented to banks or trust companies for payment shall not be certified.

(2) How to certify. The certifying officer must require positive identification that the person presenting the bond is the person whose name is inscribed on the bond and must be sure there is no alteration or erasure on the bond. If the registered owner signs by mark, his mark must be witnessed by at least one disinterested person besides the certifying officer. All certificates must be in the name and title of the postmaster, followed by the certifying officer's signature and official title. The specially designated clerk or carrier must sign as "designated clerk" or "designated carrier".

(3) Who may certify. The following persons may certify to requests for payment on bonds: postmaster; assistant postmaster; any postal inspector; supervisor; or clerk temporarily in charge of the office, branch, or station; or any clerk or carrier specially designated by the postmaster.

(h) Payroll savings plan—(1) Object. The plan permits employees of the Postal Service to authorize withholding of salary deductions for the purchase of savings bonds and U.S. savings notes (freedom shares). Savings notes are in denominations of $25, $50, $75, and $100 with corresponding purchase prices of $20.25, $40.50, $60.75, and $81, respectively. They are available only with the simultaneous purchase of series E bonds. Savings bonds alone may be purchased through the payroll savings plan, or any combination of savings bonds and savings notes may be purchased providing the face value of the savings bond is equal to or exceeds the face value of the savings note. The availability of the payroll savings plan shall be made known to all employees.

(2) Authorization. Standard Form 1192, U.S. Savings Bonds Authorization for Purchase and Request for Change, shall be used by employees who wish to authorize deductions from pay each pay period for bonds only, or to authorize any

changes desired in deductions or bonds. Standard Form 1192-A, Authorization for Purchase or Request for Change-U.S. Savings Bonds and Savings Notes (Freedom Shares), shall be used by employees who wish to authorize deductions from pay each pay period for the purchase of the bond and note combination. The form used shall be completed in detail by the employee and forwarded by the postmaster or other official to the postal data center. The minimum deduction for bonds is $3.75 each payday. Larger allotments in multiples of $1.25 may be made. The minimum deduction for the combined bond-and-note purchase is $3.90 each payday. The maximum allotment that can be applied to purchase of savings notes is $40.50 each payday. Deductions must be made in an aliquot amount of the combined purchase price of the bond and note.

(3) Issuance of bond. The postal data center will issue bonds and notes and deliver to purchaser when deductions are sufficient to pay for them. Bonds of the $50 and higher denominations will be given an issue date of the first day of the month in which at least half of the purchase price is accumulated, regardless of the number of payroll deductions required to complete the full purchase price of the bonds. Except for a combination containing $25 savings bonds, all bonds and notes issued under the bondand-note combination will be given an issue date of the first day of the month in which one half or more of the purchase price has been accumulated.

(4) Refund of deductions. The postal data center will refund withheld deductions insufficient to purchase a bond or bond-and-note combination if the employee is separated from the service or cancels his withholding authorization. [26 F.R. 11601, Dec. 6, 1961, as amended at 28 F.R. 6538, June 26, 1963; 32 F.R. 3096, Feb. 21, 1967; 34 F.R. 9389, June 14, 1969. Redesigned at 27 F.R. 225, Jan. 9, 1962; 30 F.R. 8622, July 8, 1965 and further redesignated at 31 F.R. 15350, Dec. 8, 1966]

The Postal Savings System was discontinued by Public Law 89-377, approved March 28, 1966. The effective date for closing the system was April 27, 1966. After that date no postal savings deposits were accepted. In accordance with the law, all funds remaining on deposit July 1, 1967, were transferred to the Treasury Department to be held there subject to proper claims. Interest ceased to accrue on postal savings certificates on the interest anniversary dates of the individual certificates occurring before April 26, 1967. No interest accrues after that date, but the face value of a certificate and the interest due to anniversary date will be paid whenever the certificate is surrendered.

[34 F.R. 9389, June 14, 1969]

§ 173.2 Records of accounts.

The records of accounts with outstanding balances, Form PS 600, Record of Postal Savings Account, which were established when the accounts were opened, have been transferred to the Treasury Department. They will be maintained there as the official records of the accounts.

[34 F.R. 9389, June 14, 1969]

All withdrawals will be paid by the Treasury Department. Postmasters will keep on hand a supply of Form 315, Depositor's Application to Withdraw Postal Savings, and other forms which have been used by the Post Office Department in connection with the accounts of deceased depositors. They will supply applicants with Form 315 and any other necessary forms, assist them in completing them, and tell them to mail them with the endorsed certificates to the Treasury Department, Bureau of Accounts, Investments Branch, Washington, D.C. 20226. A legal representative of a depositor should be advised to include a copy of his appointment with his application for payment on Form 315. If uncertain as to the requirements to be met for the Treasury Department to pay an account, the postmaster should advise the claimant to write to the Treasury Department, Bureau of Accounts, for information.

[34 F.R. 9389, June 14, 1969]